Guard or baffle for fuel tanks



March 27, 1945. -c. B. BREEDLOVE GUARD OR BAFFLE FOR FUEL TANKS Filedwmr. 27, 1942 Gttornggs v the spaces between the 0 Patented Mar. 27, 1945 harem OFFICE GUARD on BAFFLE FQR roan TANKS Charles B. Breedlove', Romeo, Mich.

Agg sa ica e -amb t team-$1 92 i 1 Claim.

on nd h eby dh i he he. c the ant contents.

Another object of the invention is to provide a filler spout baffle or guard which is adapted tolbe compressed prior to, its insertion, so. that the ex-. pansion thereof Whenin position will .retam the baffle in engagementv with the. interiorwalls of the filler spoilt and prevent the same from being removed ordisplaced. 1 I

Another object of: the invention is to pro id a guard or bafiie for the filler spouts, of motor ve: hicle fuel tanks which is formed of a sinusoidal strip. o m al co le upon itse s ir l y w th h toh o -ut oh her of. n the, same. an s that oluti ns; W lkbe. r stricted to prohibit the i on. of a siphonhose but will be adequa e to. allcw the pass e as line. durin th fi lin o rat n or the ank f Anotherobjectof the intention is to. provide. a uard or baii e device wh ch ma e str n en d or reinf r d. b an dd ti nal, s r p of shr ne E la-e. te ial forming a bach he fer the sinus ida st ip so that when both are spirally'coiled together,

portions of the convolutions of the sinusoidal strip will lie a n t t e reihf r ine t ih a w l be s a e idi ahtlr r m he ad a n oonvolutions.

An the obi c o h in ent on s "*9 p ide a uard o bath dev e as abo e set i h h here: n he r in in tr pfer-m s as a c t n aich. of t e si usoida t an and s 9 1 1? u i elf to x end a l e wi h} h sin s idal s r so at h easy w e M he devi e will he a:

Qiht t d. h h c n h uard la -i n p it en. a l. nk that sheat- Ancther ct. f h n ehhqh is t hra de a rd. or f e de ceferhe fil e sheets. f rho: tor vehicle fuel tanks which may be secured in p a eahd has by the esrans action, or the resilient strip without requiring the use or employment of various fastening devices such as screws, nails or rivets.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a motor vehicle fuel tank showing a portion through the fil r s at b ksh aw i lh h'ats h manne he guard or baffle device em od ng th n ention i h ld i P i n-l Figure 2 is a diagonal.

y cross-sectional view takenonline 2 41 of Fig. 1 looking in the direcn f he ar ow l str g a Pr f r ed emhq im ht oi he ih htian. n a in h net in which the guard is positioned in a fuel'tank l er mutli hts 3, is a P r ctiv i w o he a e guard device showing the same in an extended h iti h t r t h sa i g h reof:

i u s a r s-stewed. ew im la o Fi 2 i ustr ting. a m d fied term of h nv on I and Figur s. p r pec iv V ew of t e g ha dev se sh wn in h s; 4 n t xieh a q 9 19 petition sh n d ta e rah;- iqrq h of su tain trih or id htly eating he cqhv lh s, of th inusq i l strip- G nem d cima o f. he inv ntihn The invention comprises a guard or baflie device adaptedto be inserted in the filler spout of a motorvehicle fuel tank to prevent unauthorized access to the contents of the tank Or the theft thereof but yet allow the free passage of f-uel into the tank by a fuel station attendant. In general a sinuous strip of resilient metal'is wound in a coil with the spiral oonvolutions in the same plane so that it maybe inserted in the fuel tank filler spout in its coiled position. After the coiled strip is thus inserted the expansion of the strip against the inner walls of the filler spout will retain the baffle or guard in position. The sharp corner portions of the sinusoidal strip are adapted to engage the inner wall of the filler spout and bite into the wall so that the spiral baffle will be prevented from being pushed into. the fuel tank orwithdrawn from the spout. In another,embodiment of the invention a relatively. straight looking strip is provided tov assist in coiling the sinusoidal strip prior to its insertion in the fuel tank filler spout as well as serving to space the convolutions of the sinusoidal strip to cause the sinuous portions to arrange themselves in a more orless orderly fashion when released in the filler spout, of the fuel tank and thereby prohibit the insertion of a rubber siphon pipe or the like for the drawing of the fuel therein.

bodiment of the invention'and wherein the referencecharacter 5 will generally be employed to designate a fuel tank of conventional form usually mounted on the rear of a motor vehicle for supplying motive fuel to the vehicle power plant. As usual, a filler spout B is secured to an annular flange I formed integral on the tank and the filler spout is provided with a gooseneck portion 8 so that the free end 9 may project through the rear apron of the vehicle or through an opening in one of the rear fenders to facilitate access thereto for filling purposes. 1

The open end of the filler spout is provided with an annular cap retaining ring ID fitted in I pushed into the fuel tank.

place and held by suitable fastening means such I as rivets or the like. The inturned flange ll ofthe ring ID is provided with cam surfaces for interlockingly receiving a cross bar l2 secured to the closure cap I3. The filler spout closure structure may be of any well known type and the form shown is merely for the purpose of illustration.

The invention comprises an elongate strip i5 of resilient spring metal having a high degree of flexibility. As shown in Fig. 3, the strip I5 is transversely corrugated as at [6 throughout its length toprovide a strip which is sinusoidal in longitudinal cross-section. The strip I5'has' one of its endsil bent upwardly while the opposite end I8 is bent downwardly in the opposite direction. This is to facilitate easy winding of the strip into spiral form and to prevent'the innermost edge from becoming entangled in the corrugations during such winding.

The corrugations l5 are of equal size throughout the. length of the strip but if desired, the corrugations may be gradually increased in size toward one end of the strip.

It is intended to wind the strip [5 into spiral form with each convolution in the same plane radially from each other. After the strip is thus wound, it is inserted in the filler spout as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and allowed to expand into tight engagement with the walls thereof. It is to be noted that the ridges of the corrugations are formed relatively acute so that the end portions will engage the walls of the filler spout 6 and assist in retaining the bafile or guard thus formed in place.

' In Figs. 4 and 5, there is shown a modified form of the invention and as illustrated in Fig. 5,

the guard or baiile device is constructed. of an elongate metal strip 20 of resilient springy metal bent upon itself as at 2| to provide coextensive sections 22 and 23. The sections 22 and 23 when bent are of the same length and thesection 22 is relatively flat and straight, while the section 23 is transversely corrugated as at 24 to provide a series of undulating portions throughout its length. It is to be noted that the corrugated ridges 24 are formed to provide sharp end portions which will assist in retaining the guard in position in the filler spoutvof the fuel tank similar to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive.

When the sections 22 and 23 of the strip 20 are wound in clock spring, fashion, to a diameter smaller than the internal diameter of the filler spout 6 the bafilethus formed may be inserted therein and pushed downwardly to the same po- The strip 20 may be wound in spiral form with the straight flat strip 22 innermost so that the other corrugated section 23 will have its convolutions spaced equally throughout the coil with the corrugations contacting the convolutions of the flat strip 22. This construction also facilitates the easy winding of the strip 20 prior to its insertion in a fuel tank filler spout.

- Operation of form of the invention shown in Figs.

1 to 3 inclusive It will first be assumed, that the corrugated strip I5 is fully extended as shown in Fig. 3. The user simply winds the strip in spiral fashion with the convolutions in the same radial plane until the overall diameter of the coiled strip is less than the diameter of the filler spout opening. The cap I3 is then removed and the coiled strip 15 inserted as shown in Fig. 1, a substantial dis tance below the retaining ring I0 to prohibit unauthorized persons from tampering with ordislodging the baflle thus formed.

Operation of the form of the invention in Figs.

4 and 5 In the operation of the form of the invention in Figs. 4 and 5, the strip 20 is likewise coiled or wound spirally wtih the convolutions of the flat strip 22 interposed between the convolutions of the corrugated section 23. When the strip 20 has been wound to a diameter smaller than the diameter of the fuel tank filler spout for which itis' intended it may be inserted to provide a guard or baflle therein directly below the opening of the filler spout which will prevent unauthorized persons from stealing the contents of the tank by inserting a siphon hose in the tank and draining the entire supply of fuel therefrom.

It is tobe understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred embodiments thereof and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

In combination with" a fuel tank having a filler spout, a spirallycoiled baiile inserted in the filler spout intermediate the ends thereof, said baffle comprising a flexible resilient metal strip having a series'of acute corrugated projections thereon for providing minute fuel passageways therebetween when the strip is coiled with the con volutions in the same plane, said projections having relatively sharp pointed end edges to be forced into frictional engagement with the interior wall of said spout by the expansion of said strip, whereby said guard will be wholly supported by said expansive force exerted on said edges.

CHARLES B. BREEDLOVE. 

